Lee’s Eight Shutout Innings Helps Give Phillies First Win of 2013

The Phillies will not finish the season 0-162! The Phillies avoided the sweep with their 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Cliff Lee pitched extremely well in his first appearance of the season. Lee fanned eight batters in as many innings. Lee only surrendered two hits and did not walk a batter. After poor outings by Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay to start the season, the rotation needed a strong outing from a starter.

Run support for Lee was an issue in 2012, but the offense was able to produce just enough runs for Lee tonight. The Phillies scored both runs via small ball. Ben Revere grounded out to drive in a run in the second inning. A few batters later, Chase Utley brought home another run on a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The Phillies did have a couple hard-hit balls, but Thursday’s weather benefited hitters and kept the ball in the yard. It would have been nice to score some more runs, but Lee did dominate.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his first save of the season, and to secure Lee’s victory. Lee’s first win in 2012 wasn’t until July. It only took one game for him to get his first win in 2013.

The Phillies get their first win and return to Philadelphia on a positive note. The Phillies will take on the Kansas City Royals for the home opener tomorrow. The home crowd will be excited to have the Phillies back in town.

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31 Comments

Good stuff, tough night to hit so they had to get runs across anyway they could. Cliff was aided by the weather too, but a real fine pitching performance against a tough lineup. Schedule says we don’t see them again until after Independence day? That means we play them 16 times in the last three months of the season. Yikes. Hopefully the Nats will have lost a game or two by then.

Cliff looked and pitched fantastic against a tough line-up!! I love how competitive he is whether he is pitching, hitting, or running the bases. Hopefully, Doc finds a consistent command, Hamels shakes off the opener, and Kendrick recaptures his magic from parts of last season, and the Phils will be able to put it all together: pitching, hitting, and defense. Cliff’s performance truly lifted my spirits tonight! Psychotron also looked good with a 1-2-3 ninth. Chase and Dom continue to impress. i hope Howard and Young find their grooves soon.

Great night for Lee AND the team. Lee was dominant allowing just two hits and ZERO runs for 8 innings on 100 plus pitches. I thought reliever Adams would come in to fulfill his role as 8th inning set-up for the closer. I guess Lee assured both the manager and pitching coach he felt strong and wanted to pitch another inning. Certainly his performance confirmed his belief.

It was a feel-good moment for all his teammates to see Papelbon closed out the game and preserved Lee’s first win in April (compared to last season’s first win in July).

It was also good to see Papelbon get his first save of the season. Historically, he is one of only five closers with SEVEN consecutive seasons of 30 saves or more.

Let’s start a win streak Phillies. Be careful not to take K.C. Royals lightly. They are improved, young and upcoming team.

Let me ask a question to the masses though: at 2-0 did anyone feel comfortable by the end of the 7th? I thought for sure the Cholly was going to take Lee out and when our relief comes in – watch out… honestly, I was fretting.

brooks, I didn’t know WHAT to expect from Paps. I wasn’t fretting but I had this moment where I was a little nervous. But then I just said to myself that Paps is the closer and these are the situations where he comes in so let’s just get this done already.

Brooks,
I did, but nowhere near as much as last year. Mike Adams has been impressive from what I have seen in spring training and his opening outing. Plus, Psychotron is usually in psycho mode for save opportunities, but usually returns to normalcy in non-save situations. The stats might say otherwise, but that is what I see.

Bid Ed, that’s what I see too, but that’s only because I’ve only watched him for one of his seven seasons. I hardly saw him at all for his first 6 full seasons, when he was just as good in non-save situations.

wouldn’t it be nice to have scott franske and larry in the booth? and i’d love to see ricky ricardo also. that man is as good as they come. i don’t mind sarge he’s kinda funny and all, but the other two? whew! outta here for them.

I’d love to know what percentage of Phillies fans doesn’t like Wheeler …

He’s BY FAR my favorite of the TV announcers – as pompous as he may be, he brings way more knowledge, strategy, and history to the booth than either of the others. McCarthy isn’t terrible with Wheeler, but I think he dumbs it down with Sarge- who I feel brings nothing to the broadcast.

I like listening to Franske and LA, but I don’t think the they will be transitioned to TV any time in the near future … does anyone know if the radio broadcast syncs to the TV broadcast, or is it still a few seconds behind the action?

BTW – That’s not so much a put down of the Phillies announcers as it is a problem getting the home feed. I just listened to three days of how great the Uptons, Heyward, Freeman, Andrelton, Johnson, and al their players are. That’s why I wish the radio would sync.

Yes, I’ve tried to listen to the radio and mute the tv as well, but the delay ruins it. Wheeler has driven me nuts my entire life. My biggest problem with him (and i have several) is that he assumes that the average viewer knows NOTHING because he explains EVERYTHING. Captain Obvious (Sarge) is probably the one I like the most, only because he knows when to shut his mouth and just let the game unfold and the viewer watch it unfold. Training Bra (McCarthy) just babbles on and on and on until I start yelling at the tv for him to shut up. He talks as much as Wheeler does.

The Chris Wheeler hate really amazes me. And I really don’t think he’s all that pompous but I get why some might say that. He’s goofy and i think people have a problem with that for some reason. But he is an incredible source of information. I have actually learned a lot about the game and how it’s played just by listening to some of his analysis.

Sarge is just a waste of time in my opinion – the 4th, 5th and 6th innings are not something I look forward to just because he’s on the air.

Franzke and LA are great. Love them on the radio and I actually think that they wouldn’t be as good on TV.

Even though we are 1-2 good news is our boys really hit the ball hard, I mean Howard’s shot would have been out of the park by a mile in normal conditions so would have Nix, alot of men left on base, but at least we have them there.

I think Doc will right himself and have a solid season, Hamels, i think just was overhyped, and left too many balls up in the zone. he will be fine, he tends to be streaky as does most of the older guys on this team.

Considering that my detectives figured out yuor real name is Don M. Wheeler its a good thing.
Blood is thicker than water.

I have come to like Wheeler because he is ours. He is just so goofy like your old uncle at a family gathering with ta dead squirrel on his head.

the way he and McCarthy fawn over Howard when he hits his 800 foot homer in a 10-1 game is an issue. I dont think their homerism for some of the players is needed.
But in 2013 I guess it is expected for home team announcers to be cheerleaders.
The problem is there is a level of fan who believes the announcers and thinks they know everything. There are alot of people in broadcasting who know less than the posters on ths site. Just because they are on TV or the radio doesnt mean they knwo anything. In a lot of cases they are BSers and know less.

I am hoping I get the Phillies feed this afternoon.
I miss wheeler.

His broadcasting level is not that good. But the bottom line is he entertains me now.
I like Wheeler.

I liked Scott Graham but they got rid of him in 2006. I even think Jim Jackson is decent. And of course I love L.A. and Franzke. I just find our tv guys painful to listen to. When the Phillies play the Nats, I listen to their announcers instead of ours. Plus I like to hear what other people are saying about our team.

I think he’s the only one of the broadcast team that ever actually teaches fans something new – the reason why the corners are hugging the line … or when you should play infield-in, instead of double-play- depth …. or no-doubles-defense in the OF …. or why you don’t hold runners in certain situations. … instead of just making general observations, ala Sarge.

I understand what makes some people not care for him, but I also think that whatever the hell his fued with Harry Kalas was has people hating him for that reason alone. It could be worse, we could have to listen to the Yankees, or White Sox broadcast teams all the time.

I have nothing against Chris Wheeler. I like him and he does his job as color analyst very well. Yes, for baseball beginners, one can learn a few few things from him on game situation strategy, Personally, I enjoyed listening to stories or anecdotes about former players, coaches and managers he associated with. And if you read his book, “View From The Booth” which tells wonderful stories from his four decades in baseball, you know he has considerble knowledge of the game.

I don’t know if anyone here has a personal favorite for a broadcaster outside of the Phillies’ circle, My choice is the famed and beloved Vin Scully who has been broadcasting games forever it seems. I tried when possible to listen to him during late hours of the night (games on West Coast).

He is back again this year for the 64th year broadcasting Dodgers games. The Hall of Famer (in broadcasting) goes back to the 1950’s era of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He works in the booth by himself without the need for a color commentator. With all the years he has been in baseball and having a mother lode of rich stories and anecdotes, he obviously does not need a partner. He has such a smooth and mellifluous delivery in calling the game. I love him. He is the GOLD standard of baseball broadcasters.